Wednesday February 17 – We arrived early 6AM at this port of Valpariso Chile and tied up at the container port 2 miles from the passenger area on the port side. Roger, Diana and Nelson disembarked and after the coach transfer to the Passenger Port (QM2 is too big to bearth there) we boarded the coaches for Santaigo. Tachy made her way via Ship transfer to the airport and then on to Panama and Mexico to visit with her ailing mother. She will re-join us in Aukland.
The 1 hour 40 minute drive to the Capital took us through various fertile valleys (Casablanca, Curacabi, Mapucho) with the vineyards and agricultural fields. Aside from Copper, Chile’s main exports are agricultural (grapes & wine, Almonds, Avocado, Olive Oil and other fruits). It’s a long (3,000-4,000 Kilometer) narrow (Pacific to Argentina from 80 to 450 Km) country bordering Argentina to it’s East and Peru to it’s North, with diverse climates from the Atacama Desert (site of the biggest astronomical observatory in the world) in the North to the Antarctic in the South. Santiago Metropolitan district has a population of 7 Million with the city itself 4.5 Million and was founded on the 12th February 1541 by Pedro de Valdivia on what is today the Santa Lucia Hill in the Center of the city. Bernardo O’Higgins in 1810 started the independence from Spain and thus is one of the big heroes of the country. The flag divided horizontally in 2 equal parts has it’s bottom half Red in honour of the blood shed by the citizens in the various conflicts; The upper half is 1/3-1/4 a blue background with a white star representing the clear sky and the star observatory; The other 2/3-3/4 is white. Chile lies on a tectonic plate fault and is thus subject to constant earthquakes, the last major one 8.5 Richter with it’s Tsunami was in 2010. There are 15 active volcanos in Chile and 10% of the earth’s volcanos are in the Andes. This City in the Andes is in a valley at an altitude of 500 Meters (1,600 Ft) is thus subject to pollution as in Mexico City, but today, being summer with many residents on holiday, it was relatively clear.
Our first stop after a bit of a drive through the the city, seeing where their two Nobel Literature prize winners lived (most famous being Pablo Neruda in 1971), we stopped in the square where the Presidential Palace and government ministry buildings are located. The purpose was to watch the Changing of the Guard outside the Palace known as La Moneda (it used to be the Mint) where the president works. This takes place every 2 days alternating between odd and even days each month. A beautiful square with statues, grassy areas and trees. After the event, we continued our drive through the city stopping at a Handicraft Market (Centro Artesanal Los Dominicos) to admire all the amazing work of Artisans from all over the country. We were particularly taken with the Copper and Lapis Lasuli work as well as ceramics and woven items. It is very well laid out as separate shops around a plaza. Unfortunately the time was far too limited to do “serious” damage to the pocketbook!!! As we drove past the US Embassy, which is enormous, we noted that the flag was at half staff due to the recent Supreme Court Justice’s death. We then went to the Parque Metropolitano de Santiago and climbed the hill overlooking the city – A great photo Opportunity!! It’s interesting that the roof of the Train station was built by Gustav Eifel.
The country has a National Health System where all are covered, as well as a private pay healthcare system. Minimum tax rates are 12% plus 7% for Health and can go up to 40% on a sliding scale. The FX Rate is today about 710 pesos to US$1.00. After a drive along the Mapucho River which goes right through the city, it was now time for lunch, so we stopped, together with some 10 – 15 other coaches, at Los Buenos Muchachos Banquet Hall. Some 500-800 people sat at long tables and we enjoyed a Pisco Sour, Soup, Salad, Salmon and a meringue desert while a traditional dancing show was being performed on the stage and pictures of native dances, Easter Island and other Chilean Locations were played on the screen behind. All the men had to visit the Toilet, not necesarily for it’s usual purpose, but to admire the tiled walls which consisted of about 20 scantily clad full size female models all in painted tiles. A rather peculiar sensation when performing the usual functions with these very attractive ladies looking on!!!!
After lunch we stopped at the Plaza de Armas to visit the Cathederal – a beautiful subdued ornate edifice, after which we had to return to Valparaiso, stopping briefly by the Casa Blanca Vinyard, to purchase some of the excellent local wine (some sold in 5 litre bottles) to take with us for the trip. As we got to the port we were greeted with a demonstration of some 100+ people. It was very orderly and did not hinder us in any way, and we had been warned by the Captaain the night before that this could take place. Apparently a crew member of a Cunard Ship (I think it was the QM2) committed suicide and was lost at sea. Cunard, with it’s parent – Carnival, have been in touch with the family, but apparently they were unhappy, so decided to voice their objection while we were in port. All very peaceful and very orderly, which did not affect the regular operation of disembarking 1500 passengers, boarding a similar amount and taking on Fuel and supplies for crossing the Pacific Ocean. All in all a fun day with perfect 70F weather. It is great to go North to the warmer weather!!!
Roger & Anne Travels 